Internet-based application service providers, so-called “ASPs” are known and provide the advantage that hardware and software maintenance and upgrades are centrally managed by a third party. The ASP model has been further extended to include web-hosted databases. For example, an ASP may provide a client with a backup database for duplicate storage of client data records. Further, an ASP or any other host may maintain a client's active database, and/or sensitive data therein, and allow the client to remotely store and edit data records to the database via the Internet. Thus, a client/user may log in to his web-hosted database via a web browser on his LAN/computer and create or manipulate data records in real time.
However, one difficulty faced when one or more users of a particular client are accessing a web-hosted database is preventing errors in the creation of new data records and in edits to existing data records. The problem is further complicated when the completion of a particular field of a data record triggers the storage and/or edit of related data in the data record. For example, a user may have automatic permissions to enter and edit data in the web-hosted database. Upon completing a particular field of a data record, additional fields of the data record may be automatically populated based on the entered data. There is then a risk that the user or another user having edit permissions may accidentally or erroneously edit the particular field and/or the automatically generated data.
What is desired, therefore, is a system and method for locking data records in networked or web-hosted databases. Further desired is a system and method for locking a data record upon the occurrence of specified trigger.